Chapter 474: The Forbidden Land of Gods

Upon hearing Ao Ting's report, Chu Yang nodded lightly.

Although he and Ao Ting could establish contact at any time, Chu Yang always only asked for the results regarding the exploration of unknown universes and relic universes, never concerning himself with the process.

It is worth mentioning that after Ao Ting entered the unknown universe, he once did something earth-shattering.

That event was Ao Ting's encounter within a relic universe, which simultaneously caused the Heavenly Dao of the known universe to recover a portion of its power.

On the surface, this seemed like a bad thing, but in reality, it gave Chu Yang a deeper understanding of historical truths and the secrets within relic universes.

"Take me to the relic universe!" Chu Yang did not delay; his purpose in coming to the unknown universe this time was to explore the relic universe.

Ao Ting nodded and then took Chu Yang directly away from the Tianyang Kingdom.

The Tianyang Kingdom was the cosmic nation ruled by Ao Ting; the meaning behind its name goes without saying.

Before leaving, Ao Ting did not waste any time, as he had long known Chu Yang would come and had already arranged all matters within the Tianyang Kingdom.

The relic universe is located deep within the unknown universe and is also a forbidden zone for life.

Without strength above the Lower Rank Di Zhizun, coming here is no different from seeking death.

It is worth mentioning that the overall power system of the unknown universe is very strong, at least no weaker than the Great Thousand World.

However, its top-tier powerhouses are not as strong as those in the Great Thousand World, because the strongest here are only comparable to a Saint Product Tian Zhizun.

Those above that level have all obtained inheritances from relic universes, but these people, without exception, have all chosen to remain in the relic universes.

The specific reason is unknown, but through the great commotion Ao Ting caused, Chu Yang vaguely guessed some of the truth.

The technological level of the unknown universe is extremely backward, but almost the entire population "cultivates the Dao," breathing in the spiritual Qi between heaven and earth to enhance their own cultivation.

Daoist techniques are their only means of combat, and Dharma artifacts are their only external aid.

It is worth mentioning that there are no so-called heavenly materials and earthly treasures in the unknown universe; all cultivators can only climb to higher realms step by step, like ascetic monks.

The only shortcut is the inheritance within a relic universe.

Precisely because of this, even knowing that relic universes are full of danger, countless powerhouses still rush forward one after another, like moths to a flame.

The process of entering a relic universe is not complicated, nor are there any obstacles.

Ordinary people naturally cannot enter a relic universe easily; they need to join major nations to obtain a quota.

But as a first-class nation in the unknown universe, the Tianyang Kingdom possesses a teleportation array that leads directly to the relic universe.

Interestingly, the news that the Lord of Tianyang was about to enter the relic universe again attracted countless powerhouses to watch, even causing quite a stir in the unknown universe.

"It seems your fame in the unknown universe is quite significant!" Chu Yang looked at Ao Ting with a half-smile.

Ao Ting gave a bitter smile and said, "In the nearly 100,000-year history of the unknown universe, although some have escaped from relic universes unscathed, they are very few and far between."

"And as for those who could still escape the unknown universe after triggering the Forbidden Land of Gods, I seem to be the only one..."

Chu Yang nodded; no wonder Ao Ting was so famous.

Anyone capable of achieving such an unprecedented feat would become the focus of attention in any world and any era.

Entering the relic universe, the noise of the outside world vanished, and everything became quiet—even eerily so.

Ao Ting quickly scanned the surroundings and then let out a long breath, saying, "It seems we are lucky; this area is relatively safe."

"Interesting..." Chu Yang narrowed his eyes; he and Ao Ting had been randomly teleported to a certain area within the relic universe.

During the teleportation process, Chu Yang clearly felt that spatial power, as well as a wisp of Heavenly Dao power mixed within it! Cultivating the Dao... cultivating the Dao...

The Dao cultivated by the practitioners of this unknown universe is actually the Heavenly Dao!

"First, go to the Forbidden Land of Gods you encountered last time!" Chu Yang's goal was clear.

Ao Ting had left a wisp of his aura there, and after sensing it for a moment, he led the way.

On the way, Chu Yang asked softly, "Where did the name 'Forbidden Land of Gods' come from?"

Ao Ting shook his head and said, "I don't know; I couldn't trace it to the source. I only know that everyone calls the places where ancient gods fell the Forbidden Land of Gods."

"But... if your guess, Master, can be verified, presumably the origin of this Forbidden Land of Gods has an inextricable connection with the Heavenly Dao..."

Chu Yang smiled and said nothing more.

He did indeed have a guess, but it still needed further verification.

The relic universe is vast, and the space here is extremely solid; even with Chu Yang's current physical strength, he would need to use his blood-Qi power to shatter the space.

Therefore, for the sake of caution, the two did not perform spatial jumps but flew at high speed all the way.

Even so, it took them nearly half a day to cross the long distance and arrive at the Forbidden Land of Gods that Ao Ting had encountered last time.

This was a graveyard with over a hundred tombs scattered around a hill, emitting a cold aura and giving people a feeling of "no strangers allowed."

"So many tombs, which one is the owner of the inheritance?" Chu Yang raised an eyebrow.

The Forbidden Land of Gods is extremely dangerous, but it is also accompanied by opportunities, because almost every Forbidden Land of Gods contains an ancient god's inheritance.

Ao Ting smiled bitterly: "It was precisely because I couldn't find the right one that I let that wisp of Heavenly Dao origin escape, and in the end, I gained nothing..."

"If I hadn't felt your aura, Master, I fear that wisp of Heavenly Dao origin would have mobilized the power within the relic universe to forcibly keep me here!"

Just as Ao Ting said, this Forbidden Land of Gods sealed a wisp of Heavenly Dao origin.

It was precisely because Ao Ting let this wisp of Heavenly Dao origin escape that the Heavenly Dao of the known universe recovered much of its power.

But it is somewhat ironic; even if there is only one wisp of Heavenly Dao origin, this is the relic universe, which is permeated with the power of the Heavenly Dao everywhere.

That wisp of Heavenly Dao origin could have completely utilized the power within the relic universe to forcibly suppress and kill Ao Ting.

Perhaps before Chu Yang appeared, the Super-God Heavenly Dao had done this more than once, which is why some secrets remained undiscovered until now.

But when the Heavenly Dao felt Chu Yang's aura on Ao Ting, it was like a frightened bird; it didn't dare to confront him directly and instead slunk away.

After all, at that time, Chu Yang had put too much pressure on the Heavenly Dao in the known universe, making it eager to recover its power and unwilling to cause extra trouble.

"This relic universe is like a chessboard, and the living beings of the entire unknown universe are the pieces on the chessboard..."

Chu Yang looked at the tombs and whispered, "But is the player outside this chessboard the Heavenly Dao, or the ancient gods?"

As his gaze shifted, Chu Yang's eyes suddenly narrowed, and he became thoughtful.

After a long while, he waved his hand, and three figures appeared abruptly: Fire Spirit, Undying, and Luo Shen.

Chu Yang said softly: "Ao Ting, Fire Spirit, Undying, you three seal off this area."

"I suspect these tombs are an array. If we can crack or control the array, we might have more discoveries. Luo Shen, observe with focus; this is also an opportunity for you."

After speaking, Chu Yang flashed onto the hill and sat cross-legged.

Luo Shen followed closely behind, standing beside him to observe carefully.

The other three scattered and guarded the area.

Chu Yang sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, observing the connections between the arrangements of the many tombs with his mind's eye.

Soon he confirmed that this was indeed an array, but this array was quite profound, even more so than the Great Thousand Demon-Transforming Array.

However, compared to the Great Thousand Demon-Slaying Array, it was still lacking.

This array had traces of arrays from the Immortal Xia world, but it gave a feeling of being incomplete, like a cat trying to paint a tiger.

Although the power of the array was not bad, that was only because the power system of the unknown universe was strong, not because the array itself was powerful.

As long as it was confirmed to be an array, the next steps would be much simpler.

Chu Yang closed his eyes to comprehend while awakening the Pan Gu spiritual consciousness; working on both fronts, it took him only half a day to open his eyes again.

He glanced at Luo Shen, who was standing beside him and had already entered a state of enlightenment, and a smile appeared on his face.

Since the Four Saint True Spirits were part of his body, they could establish a direct connection with Pan Gu.

Chu Yang had Pan Gu share the information about arrays and spiritual arrays directly with Luo Shen; he also had the intention of cultivating her into an array master.

Walking slowly down the hill, Chu Yang came to an anonymous tomb and gently rubbed the tombstone, his soul force seeping into it.

The array eye!

A moment later, all the tombs began to tremble, emitting a faint light, as if they were stars flickering on and off.

A total of 108 tombs corresponded to the arrangement of stars; the moment this array was completely activated, a powerful force caused the entire world to tremble.

At this moment, Chu Yang was at the center of the array, as if standing high above the nine heavens, overlooking the entire relic universe.

Then a flash of surprise crossed his eyes, followed by his gaze becoming brighter and brighter.

When the light of the array dissipated, Chu Yang let out a turbid breath and withdrew his hand, looking at the tombstones that had completely dimmed and were covered in moss and mottled in the blink of an eye.

The final power of this array had been exhausted.

"Which senior can tell me what happened 100,000 years ago?"

Chu Yang looked around, "Or rather... the greatest secret in the relic universe, and the connection between the Heavenly Dao and the ancient gods!"

As his voice fell, the tombstones that had completely subsided suddenly emitted light again.

These lights eventually converged into the tomb in front of Chu Yang, and then an ancient character slowly appeared on the tombstone.

"Ask..."

Chu Yang was stunned for a moment, feeling that this scene was somewhat familiar.

Wasn't it the same when he communicated with the Green Lotus Heavenly Dao?

Even if it gathered the residual power of many ancient gods, it could only barely provide simple answers in the end.

Obviously, in the cultivation of the soul, the practitioners of the unknown universe were far inferior to the powerhouses of the Great Thousand World.

At the very least, after they died, they couldn't even retain their residual souls, only leaving behind some extremely thin residual will.

Chu Yang organized all his previous guesses and asked first: "Did the ancient gods possess a portion of the Heavenly Dao's power back then, which is why the Heavenly Dao chose to split a portion of its origin when it wanted to destroy the prehistoric civilization?"

An ancient character slowly appeared on the tombstone—"Yes"! Chu Yang asked again: "Besides that, after the Ancient War ended and before the ancient gods fell, did any great supernatural being open up the relic universe and endow it with some kind of characteristic?"

"Did the many ancient gods use the characteristics of the relic universe to seal a wisp of Heavenly Dao origin each at the cost of their lives?"

"Yes..." The answer given on the tombstone remained the same.

Chu Yang asked again: "The last question, does the Ancient Heavenly Court exist?"

This time, the tombstone did not give an answer, but after trembling violently for a moment, the light dissipated with a bang.

Chu Yang frowned, then withdrew his gaze, lost in thought.

Having received definitive answers and connecting all the guesses, everything became clear.

Before the cycle of life, a large number of cultivation powerhouses emerged in the unknown universe; these people cultivated the Heavenly Dao. The weak could borrow the power of the Heavenly Dao, and the strong could control the power of the Heavenly Dao.

The strongest could even command the power of the Heavenly Dao, becoming nearly the Heavenly Dao itself! And that Green Lotus Heavenly Dao was likely transformed from the strongest person in the prehistoric unknown universe.

This relic universe was also likely the work of that person.

After the Super-God Heavenly Dao cut off this part of its origin, it thought it could destroy the prehistoric civilization in one fell swoop.

But it never expected that the prehistoric ancient gods would use the power of the relic universe to risk their lives and forcibly seal a wisp of Heavenly Dao origin each.

This series of situations eventually led to the Super-God Heavenly Dao having little power left, unable to completely destroy the unknown universe, and it could only separate the two universes and start a new cycle of life in the known universe.

Over the years, there would always be some people who, either by accident or like Ao Ting, released the Heavenly Dao origin suppressed in the Forbidden Land of Gods.

The power of the Heavenly Dao recovered day by day, which is why it prepared to carry out life extinction again and start a new cycle of life after the known universe deviated from its expected trajectory.

But Chu Yang's appearance ruined all of this.

Because the ancient gods had all fallen, and the prehistoric life had been nearly wiped out by the Heavenly Dao, these things were buried in the dust of history.

People in the unknown universe knew nothing about this, and those who obtained the ancient gods' inheritance had to remain in the relic universe to suppress the Heavenly Dao origin, unable to contact the outside world.

Besides, almost no one who entered the relic universe could survive.

And those who survived were destined not to know too much, otherwise the Heavenly Dao would never have let them go.

Those who accidentally released the Heavenly Dao origin would be directly wiped out by the power of the Heavenly Dao origin.

This was the Heavenly Dao playing a long game! The ancient gods wanted to use their own inheritance to attract later geniuses to suppress the Heavenly Dao origin generation after generation.

The Heavenly Dao completely isolated the news, also wanting to use the temptation of the ancient gods' inheritance to attract more people and wait for an opportunity to release its own origin power.

Over time, as more and more of its origin recovered, the Super-God Heavenly Dao would one day be able to forcibly break through the relic universe!

And the reason it cowered in the known universe was likely out of fear of the Green Lotus Heavenly Dao.

Although the Green Lotus Heavenly Dao itself was not powerful, it was of the same origin as the relic universe and could borrow the power of the relic universe! (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 475 =====